4 comments:

On other hand, neoconservatives are acknowledging that their world view is crap, letting go of ones outrage is generally better for ones health, and...well, at least it's not me moving to LA. Also, my exam was yesterday, and thus I have returned to posting. So maybe things are getting better.

Why does everyone make contorted faces when I mention LA...is there something I should know? Hellooo--City of Angels! Am I right?

Anyway, thanks for the link -- Fukuyama's article presented many well-stated points and meaningful suggestions. I'm not smart enough to approach it critically; instead, a few things stuck out to me:

1. When people throw around the word "Neoconservative," they probably don't know what that really means.

2. "...the intelligence community never took nearly as alarmist a view of the terrorist/W.M.D. threat as the war's supporters did. Overestimation of this threat was then used to justify the elevation of preventive war to the centerpiece of a new security strategy, as well as a whole series of measures that infringed on civil liberties, from detention policy to domestic eavesdropping."

3. "Radical Islamism is a byproduct of modernization itself, arising from the loss of identity that accompanies the transition to a modern, pluralist society."

4. "The United States needs to come up with something better than 'coalitions of the willing' to legitimate its dealings with other countries. The world today lacks effective international institutions that can confer legitimacy on collective action..."

Maybe I should clarify: it's not just that one of the more intellectual of neoconservatives has seen the reality of the past 5 years and updated his view. It's that the argument seems so reasonable, and it's written by Fukuyama. In the majority of my academic writings I've taken the liberty of bashing on Fukuyama whenever I can; it's the removal of a constant in my universe.

Also:P: How did the exam go?D: I think moving to LA is FANTASTIC. It's just that I recognise what a big identity-shifter that is for you and those around you.